Thrifty Polished is a blog about tips and ideas on living well for less money. There will be posts about books, nail polish, cooking, fashion and DIY ideas, scented wax and candles, all purchased on a budget of course! Thanks for visiting and feel free to leave a comment anytime.

Wednesday, August 31, 2016

I love this scent! It's a creamy, not too sweet coconut with a hint of freshness. Reminds me of the BHG Dual Scents By The Pool Splash + Coconut a lot. It had strong throw all day too. Overall A+. Would repurchase.

TBG Victorian Midway: This is fabulous for fall! It's a great scent, kind of a spicy pumpkin bakery blend with fairly strong throw for about 8-10 hours. Overall grade: A. Would repurchase.

TBG Mad Hatter Tea Party: I got this one from a swap. I thought this would be a tea and cakes blend, but it's actually very minty fresh. Reminds me of York peppermint patties mixed with Irish Spring soap; very unique. I like it but don't love it. Strong throw though; lasted all day and probably could have gone a second day. Overall grade: A. Probably wouldn't repurchase.

Starry Skies Whimsic Alley (serendipity + French vanilla + sugar cookies.) This smells great on cold a slight creamy cherry nuttiness from the serendipity and plenty of vanilla. I was surprised it only had moderate throw for a couple hours and then became light. I changed it out for something else after about 7 hours. All the other Starry Skies scents I've tried have had strong throw. Overall grade: B. Probably wouldn't repurchase.

Saturday, August 27, 2016

I did my first mani swap with a fellow np lover on IG; it was fun! We each chose a design of each other's to recreate. Mine are on the left; hers' on right. I was impressed that she chose to hand paint a design similar to my Starry Starry Night decals and she did a great job!

This is a delightful blend of traditional fair type foods: top notes of sweet caramel and juicy apple, mid bakery notes of powdered sugar and fried funnel cakes, bottom notes of sweet and salty kettle corn. I love this blend; very realistic! It makes me think of summer and also makes me hungry. To me it's similar to the BBW Summer Boarwalk candle, although not quite as strong of a throw. Throw was fairly strong to moderate for about 8 hours.

Overall grade: A-. Would purchase.

Wonderberry Toasted Marshmallow Bubblegum: I was surprised at how much I liked this blend! These scents sound like they'd be an odd combination but they worked surprisingly well together. I got both the creamy marsmallow note and sweet pink bubblegum note and found it very pleasant. Pretty strong throw for about 8-10 hours. Overall grade: A. Would purchase.

VCS Jackie O In Cali:

"Mango Sorbet Marshmallow Birthday Cake Vanilla Bean Noel." I thought this was a delectable blend! I did get tropical fruits mixed with sweet vanilla bakery. I think VCS blends like this one are so unique and very well executed. Throw was great; strong for about 10 hours. Overall grade: A+. Would purchase.

Candy Panda MMMBOP: This is blueberry + fruit loops and I could definitely smell both notes and it was delicious! Strong throw for 8-10 hours. Overall grade: A. Would repurchase.

Lake Providence Lodge Sweet Honey Cornbread and Strawberry Fluff: I had fallen in love with this blend from first cold sniff and it did not disappoint when melting! Super realistic and delicious honeyed cornbread aroma with bottom notes of fresh strawberries and whipped cream. I seriously wish I could eat this. Strong throw for about 10 hours. Overall grade: A+. Would repurchase.

LPL Pistashio Punch: I am not keen on all pistachio scents; I find the strong nuttiness of some of them overwhelming, but this blend is absolutely perfect! It's a creamy pistachio and reminds me of pistachio ice cream and fizzy lemon lime soda. So nice and refreshing! Strong throw that lasted all day! (12+ hours). Overall grade: A+. Would repurchase.

VCS Rockford Peaches: "Pink Chiffon Blushing Peaches Cotton Candy." I adore this blend! The fresh, juicy peaches blend so well with the sweetness of pink sugar and cotton candy. I do wish the throw was a little stronger; it was moderate for about 8 hours. Overall grade A-. Would repurchase.

Pocket Full of Peonies Sweet Tea & Lemonade. This is a super yummy blend! Heavy on sweet lemonade with hints of freshly brewed black tea. This scent had a BEAST of a throw.! It could have lasted 2 days, very impressive! Plus I cannot get over how cute the Chanel bag shape is! Overall grade: A+. Would repurchase.

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

This is my first time ordering from Candy Panda. I ordered from the My Candy Panda branch of the company which is expertly manned by Yuli and does the sampler preorders. The Candy Panda is run by Stephanie and handles the RTS 5 pack waxes, scrubs, and body butters. I must say both of these ladies have top notch customer service and communication skills. I first found out about their brand on Instagram and then joined their Facebook group. They conduct themselves very professionally and make every effort to satisfy their customers. Their business has become something of a phenomenon of success and I think it's these two ladies' hard work that drives their business forward.

Anyway, I had really wanted to order from Candy Panda for a long time, but I don't really care for the Hunger Games style openings of the RTS site where everything sells out in minutes and you have to worry about items leaping out of your cart. I prefer to browse scents and products at my leisure and check out with everything I wanted, especially when I've not tried a brand before. Some people do love the excitement of making a list and opening a bunch of browser tabs and becoming masterful keyboard ninjas though, so I venture to say that anyone can find an ordering style and fragrance blends they will love through Candy Panda.

I placed my first pre-order on July 8th for an Aphrodite's sun room sampler, which is a variety of fancy tea scents that sound absolutely divine to me! TAT was a tentative 6-9 weeks with shipping beginning on August 22nd and running though September 12th. I must have been among the first batch of customers to order because imagine my delight when I received a shipping notice promptly on the 22nd! I was even more happy to receive my order today; Wednesday the 24th! Such quick cross country shipping from GA to CA!

So with out further ado, my cold sniff thoughts on this lovely sampler.

Lemon Ginger Tea: This is very fresh, bright and herbal to me. Not sweet at all, but so calming and refreshing. A tart lemon and freshly ground ginger root; very pleasant. I think I would love this for days when I don't want a sweet scent. Very complex. Strong.

Golden Apple: Smells just like my favorite apple cider spiced tea that I love to drink in fall and winter! A little different than a traditional cider scent. has the apple with cinnamon and spice, but also a bolder, deeper tea leaves note. Very realistic and delicious! Strong.

Persephone (citrus cucumber green tea): top notes of cool cucumber and bottom notes of fresh, calming green tee, with the lightest splash of citrus. A very relaxing scent; I could see melting this in the bathroom while taking a long bubblebath after a hard day. Moderate.

Earl Grey Tea: for those traditional Earl Grey lovers, this is a dead on dupe of a steaming mug of that classic black tea! Sure to please all tea lovers. Moderate.

Vanilla Chai Tea: this was the scent I was most looking forward to and it did not disappoint! One of the most delicious, realistic chai scents I've ever smelled! Expertly blended creamy vanilla with chai spices and a splash of steamed milk. No "off" notes that can sometimes be present in chai wax scents. I will be needing this scent by the truckload please! Strong.

Lemongrass & Green Tea: I quite like this blend. I have tried other similar blends that had sharp bitter notes I didn't care for. This one is a soft, almost powdery green tea with a zesty, herbal lemongrass note. They work very well together. Moderate.

Dionysus (pomello currant sultry tea): I am not familiar with what these notes are supposed to smell like, but I find the blend quite pleasant. To me it's kind of a duller herbal/fruity tea scent with an almost musky, incense-y bottom note. I like it; very intriguing. Moderate.

Artemis: peach and rhubarb roobios blend): I would say this scent is my least favorite of the sampler, which I'm surprised by, but it's still not bad. I don't know if it was the peach or the rhubarb but something took a bitter turn to my nose amongst the nice fruit and tea leaves notes. Bold, sweet and fruity, but unfortunately a little bitter. I will be interested to see if that goes away when melting. Strong.

Lemon Slice Spritzer: very realistic; it does smell like fresh, tart lemon slices floating in a glass of sparkling water. Different than anything else I have; I like it a lot. Strong.

Mystery Sample- Aphrodite's Mirror: not sure of the notes but to me it smells like an opulent fruity herbal tea with peach nectar and perhaps a splash of booze throw in. Very decadent and rich; I love it! Strong.

Overall I'm very happy with my Candy Panda sampler! There are many scents that I'd love to purchase again and I hope I get the chance to order more in the future!

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

A yummy dessert aroma, heavy on the graham cracker with hints of rich, realistic milk chocolate and creamy marsmallow. Had fairly strong throw for about 4 hours and became moderate for the rest of the day. Overall grade: A-. Might repurchase.

Ten Digit Creations Caramel Macchiato:

A light, creamy coffee aroma with a drizzle of caramel sauce. I would have preferred this scent to be stronger, but if you like your coffee scent more mild you might enjoy it. It had moderate to light throw for about 6-8 hours. Overall grade: B. Would not purchase.

VSC Jackie O In Atlantic City:

The website description is: "Strawberry Peach Snow Taffy Marshmallow Birthday Cake Vanilla Bean Noel." I absolutely love it! To me it was a mixed fruit and creamy vanilla blend, very rich and harmonious. It had strong throw for about 10 hours, a very well done blend. Overall grade: A. Would purchase.

The Scented Squirrel Cracking Fire:

I love this blend. To me it smells like fresh pine, crisp fall leaves, and woodsmoke. It reminds me a lot of the BBW Fireside candle. Strong throw for about 8-10 hours. Overall grade: A. Would repurchase.

House Of Usher Iceberg:

This blend consists of various spices, orange and cherry. I get the cherry note which reminds me of serendipity, and also a sweet/aquatic note, kind of like blue sugar. Very interesting and pleasant blend. It had strong throw for about 5 hours, becoming more moderate thereafter. Overall grade: A-. Might purchase.

Save Your Scentses Bro: a masculine, cologne type blend. I got both musky/woodsy and aquatic notes from this. Fortunately it was pleasant to me and not too overpowering. Moderate throw for about 8 hours. I must note that I think the super squishy soy wax and the difficult to open single cube packaging is a bad combo. It was very messy and difficult to get out. Overall grade: B. Would not repurchase.

Save Your Scentses Keep Your Cool: this is a quite lovely herbal and citrus blend. It is very bright and fresh with fairly strong throw for about 8 hours. Same issue with the packaging though. Overall grade: B+. Might repurchase.

Candy Panda Key Lime Pie:

Only the second Candy Panda melt I've tried, but I'm impressed so far. I was excited to receive a couple of scents in a destash while I'm waiting for my first CP order to arrive. Despite the broken lid on this one, it had fairly strong throw for about 8-10 hours. It was a nice tart, creamy lime scent with a hint of flaky pie crust. Very realistic and yummy! Overall grade: A. Would repurchase.

Sassy Girl Aroma Pink Sugar Sleepytime:

I had read rave reviews about this scent and was excited to try it. I is a nice pink sugar, more mellow and lightly sweet, not too spicy, blended with a nice sweet lavender. It was quite lovely and relaxing, but not super unique. The throw was a little less strong than I'm used to from SGA; it was moderate for about 8 hours. Overall grade: B+. Might purchase.

The Bathing Garden Lavender Serenity: this heart shape is adorable and this little sample packs a powerful punch! It is a strong herbal lavender, well balanced by a mellow sweet creamy note. Strong throw all day. Overall grade: A. Would repurchase.

Candles From The Keeping Room Midnight Ambers:

Website description: "Imagine sitting by a winter hearth with crackling pine, evergreen twigs and warm spices like cinnamon bark and clove buds. All snuggled seamlessly in a base of robust patchouli leaf with an ever so slight hint of citrus peel."

To me on cold i got amber/musky notes with hints of orange and spice. When melting the pine and orange became more prominent. This is a wonderfully warm, woodsy orange aroma! Strong throw for several hours. Overall grade: A. Would purchase.

The Bathing Garden The Smitten Diaries:

Website description: "Coconut flakes, golden vanilla, and whipped cream is kissed with a garden of white winter flowers." Mmmmm... the coconut and vanilla are so decadent and delicious here, and I do get pleasant hints of fresh white floral too. Strong throw for several hours. Overall grade: A. Would repurchase.

Like most of us, I'm in love with holos, particularly purple, so it was fun to do a mani with all my favorite purples and silvers side by side. Colors used are CC Harp On It, Revlon Holographic Pearls, Pure Ice Tales Untold, Colores De Carol Mystic Orchid, Cupcake Berry Good Looking, NCLA Lolanthe.

Sunday, August 14, 2016

Today I tried some Seche products for the first time: Seche Crystal Clear Base Coat and Seche Vive Instant Gel Effect Top Coat.The bc was fine, a rather thin, but an adequate base. Next time I might try 2 base coats with this one as I generally prefer a thicker, sturdier base. I prefer my LA Colors Superstrength bc because it's both thick and smooth, only requiring one coat, and it really helps reduce peelies for me. Plus it's cheaper than Seche. So while I'll definitely use up this Seche base, I wouldn't really repurchase it.The tc I really like a lot. It is quite thick yet not goopy and applied very smoothly. I applied 1 thick coat as per directions. It firmed up quite quickly and was no longer tacky within 5 minutes. About 10 minutes after application I folded some laundry and no dents or dings whatsoever; I'm very impressed. The dried finish does look very much like gel, thick and super shiny and slightly squishy. I will report back on wear, but so far it feels as though it would protect my polish well. I was most concerned about 2 issues I had heard in relation to Seche Vite top coat, which were shrinkage and strong odor. I know this gel formula is new, and I've never tried the regular formula, but I was pleased to find these weren't really issues for me. Some of my nails have maybe a tiny bit of shrinkage around some of the cuticles, but it's barely noticeable. The odor was not particularly noxious; no stronger than any other polish I've used. If you're looking for a high shine, gel like finish for your nails, you may want to try this product. It was my first order from skylinebeautysupply.com and I was very pleased with the site. Received it in under a week and it was well packaged with packing peanuts in a small box.I'm not yet sure if this is the best top coat I've ever tried, but it's definitely top 3. If I find it plays well with a lot of different polishes I'd definitely repurchase it.

Today's mani was partially inspired by RealPolishFanatic. A while back she shared a mani with SH Let's Get Digital over an emerald type polish and I loved the combo. I finally got around to doing something similar. The shimmer looks so mermaid-y to me and I decided to do some sea glass like accent nails to go with it. Loving the combo! Polishes used are 1 coat each ofSC Mint Apple, Pinwheel Polish Sea Glass & Surf, Zoya Ivanka, and SH Let's Get Digital.

Friday, August 12, 2016

I'm really pleased with my order, despite the extra wait for shipping due to Kitty's car accident injuries. She had good communication and kept us updated throughout her ordeal, and even included a large free sample, raffle tickets for a prize, and a 25% off code for the next order! I'm really impressed by her quality packaging and super cute labels too.

Full On Monet (cc + melonade): an unexpected favorite! Yummy melon lemonade with a light sweetness from the cotton candy. Strong.

Individual scents:

Fancy a Drink? (Watermelon jolly rancher + lemonade): I love watermelon lemonade blends and this is a super strong and well done version.

Admit One (fizzy cola + vanilla ice cream): as you might imagine this smells like a coke float. The fizz is very realistic and the ice cream so creamy. Yummy and strong!

Evie's Desire (pistachio pudding cake + cotton candy: I am undecided as to how much I like Pistashio blends as they tend to overpower everything, but I look forward to melting this version. It's a very strong and realistic pistachio aroma. I don't get much sweet/bakery from it though. It's super nutty. The cat mold is super cute!

Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Handmade Prim Strawberry Margarita: both on cold and when melting this is kind of an artificial candy strawberry with no distinguishable tart or boozy notes to me. Rather unimpressive. Moderate throw for about 4-6 hours. Overall grade: C. Would not repurchase.

Cosmic Gems Indulge In Relaxation (brown sugar fig & black raspberry vanilla): This is a yummy, sweet blend. I definitely get musky, berry fruitiness from the fig and raspberry, as well as a hint of creaminess from the vanilla. I swear I also get something herbal/lavender from it. A pleasant blend that had fairly strong throw for about 8 hours. Overall grade: A-. Might repurchase.

The Scented Squirrel Coco Goes To Key West (coconut cream pie + key lime pie): a really well done blend! Creamy, sweet coconut and a tart twist of lime with a hint of buttery pie crust. This smelled good enough to eat and had fairly strong throw for about 8 hours. Overall grade: A. Would repurchase.

Front Porch Extreme Zucchini Bread: a yummy, warm baked zucchini bread scent. Pretty ordinary and only had strong throw for an hour or two. Had light throw for the rest of the day. Overall grade: B-. Would not purchase.

Country Lane Keepsakes Lemon Squares: a yummy tart yet sweet mix of lemon preserves and flaky crust with a touch of powered sugar. Making me hungry! Has had strong throw for several hours. Overall grade: A+. Would purchase.

Wednesday, August 3, 2016

I was lucky enough to win a 2 pound wax prize from Lake Providence Lodge! I had ordered once before and really enjoyed her wax, and also gotten a few scents in destashes/swaps, but hadn't yet gotten around to ordering again, so this bountiful prize came at a most fortuitous time. Karen has the most wonderful customer service and is ridiculously generous with her giveaway prizes! I gave her a general idea of some of her scents that I like and ones that I wanted to try, but I'm now convinced she is psychic because she managed to include several blends I was really interested in but had forgot to mention! I was so overjoyed when I opened the box and a delicious aroma wafted out and I kept uncovering more and more wax treasures, each of which sounded and smelled more amazing the last. It was hard to restrain myself from audibly gasping and squealing, haha.

Here are the scents I received.

Rainbow Sherbet: It's hard for me to distinguish the individual fruit notes here, but it's a delectable summery, creamy, fruity blend, just like real rainbow sherbet. Top notch! This is one of the scents I'd had my eye on and I can't wait to melt it. Strong.

Pistashio Punch: a blend that intrigued me, and with good reason. I can take or leave most pistachio scents, many are too artificial and overwhelming to me, but this one packs quite a realistic nutty punch with a hint of sweetness to balance it out. Well done and super strong!

Cold Ginger Ale: this was one of the few scents I'd requested by name because it's one of the most popular LPL blends and I hadn't tried it yet. It's certainly very unique; much less sweet than other "fizzy soda" types I've tried. It has that spicy nip of real ginger ale but is still refreshing and ever so slightly sweet. I can sweet why customers are taken with it; I suspect it will be amazing when melting! Very strong.

Sweet Honeyed Cornbread Strawberry Fluff: Oh My Gawwwwd! This is one of the blends I was so excited to see and I am not disappointed! I had told Karen that Strawberry Fluff was one of my favorites of her scents, but this blend is just beyond amazing! It is the perfect, most realistic cornbread ever, dripping with golden honey, followed by a dessert of sugared strawberries and whipped cream. I literally wish I was sitting at a farmhouse table eating this right now! One of the most impressive blends I've smelled in a long time. Even if this had been the only LPL scent I'd received, I'd be happy. Strong.

Breakfast At The Lodge: another one of my LPL favorites that was an instant love. Smells just like cinnamon dusted French toast and pancakes swimming in maple syrup to me. I can't get over how well Karen nails her foodie blends! Strong.

Evergreen & Orange: Oooh! I would not think these two scents would go well together, but they work! Super strong opening notes of crisp, fresh evergreen branches chased by a class of cold, tart orange juice and a pinch of spices. This voodoo magic scent is simultaneously fresh, bright and spicy in the best possible way! I'm so excited to melt it this winter. Super strong.

Tobacco Rose: I was super excited to see this scent as it has been ar the top of my "to try" list and I was kicking myself for not mentioning it. On cold, it's not quite what I was expecting. It has sort of a fresh, laundry type opening; rather soapy which I don't generally care for. Mid notes of fresh rose which was nice, but I'm having trouble getting tobacco from this at all. I thought it would be more of an exotic rose blend with warm, musky tobacco curling around it. I'm surprised at how fresh it was. I'm still really interested to see what notes come out when melting though. Fairly strong.

Fresh Pear: I don't have many pear scents; and this one is delightfully refreshing! Golden pear notes with just a hint of sweetness and a bit of effervescence. It reminds me of a sparkling pear wine, which I'd love to taste. Strong.

Vanilla Butter Cookie Glazed Orange Cake: Glazed Orange Cake is another favorite of mine, and I'm delighted to try it in this blend as vanilla/bakery is probably my favorite scent category. A few LPL vanilla scents have had a strange "off" note to me in the past, but this blend doesn't seem to. The scrumptious glazed orange cake is prominent, with an added punch of vanilla bakery. A blend good enough to eat! Strong.

Volcano: I love a good Volcano blend and this one is superb! Tropical fruits are so yummy and refreshing to me. Strong.

Mulberry: I wasn't sure about this one, but it's pleasant on cold. A spiced candy berry scent, kind of like berry gummy bears. Strong.

I am absolutely floored by Karen's kindness and generosity! As always her blends are carefully crafted and her packaging is spot on. I'm so impressed with the attention to detail in her shapes and her wonderful customer service. I suspect I have found several new favorites among these scents and now have a good idea of what wonderful blends I'd like to order in the future.

I had been excitedly anticipating the grand opening of The Scented Squirrel and I'm glad I was able to place an order! I ordered on Saturday night and my package was mailed promptly on Monday morning. I received it today (Wednesday); less than a week's turn around time is awesome! The wax was securely packaged in a padded envelope and a ton of bubble wrap and tape. It was so secure in fact, that it too quite a while to extricate my waxy treasures. :) Everything arrived in perfect condition; no broken cups or melted wax. The labels are quite charming and easy to read. The acorns and squirrels are a very cute theme and I like that each scent included the pour date and scent description as well as the name. It gives you all the info you need to know at a glance. Very convenient for the customer.

They had quite a variety of scents available at their first opening, probably around 20, and I ordered all the ones that sounded up my alley; about a dozen. Many of the blends sound very unique and I'm so excited to sniff them!

So without further ado, cold sniff thoughts:

Sweet Squirrel (cinnamon sugared pralienes): A very sweet and strong scent, heavy on the cinnamon at first with candied nut undertones. A scrumptious blend! I think this would be very festive for the holidays. Strong.

Elena (magnolia, orange blossom & rose): Oooh, such a heavenly floral! Strong fresh rose opening followed by the heady perfume of blossoming magnolia and orange trees. It does have a slight laundry detergent note which I usually don't like, but it doesn't bother me in this case. I think the rose is prominent enough that it has won me over. Also beautifully decorated with dried rose petals. Strong.

Alex (blue sugar violet): Very unique; unlike any sugared violet scent I've smelled before. It's just a bit sweet, a little creamy, and wonderfully floral. Again, a slight fresh detergent note for me but not bothersome. Excited to see what notes are prominent when melting. Strong.

Jessica (peppermint fluff & salt water taffy):

A candy shop in a cup! It reminds me of my trips to the Santa Cruz Beach Boarwalk where they pull fresh salt water taffy. Fond memories. :) Delightful opening notes of cool peppermint candy followed by the distinct sweetness of taffy. Moderate.

Joan's Swedish Cookies (vanilla caramel almond cookies): What an excellent and exotic bakery blend! Shortbread type cookie with a prominent almond note and just a hint of drizzled caramel. Smells yummy without being overly sweet. Moderate.

Kristina (root beer and vanilla) Smells just like a root beer float; love it! Heavy on the root beer which is realistic and effervescent, light on the vanilla. Strong.

Coco Goes To Key West (coconut cream pie & key lime pie):

Not your average coconut lime scent! The creaminess of the coconut, tartness of the lime, and sweet buttery goodness of the pie crust are expertly blended here. Fairly strong.

Kalidoscope Eyes (blood orange, vanilla, sandalwood & pachouli): I love that this is part of a charity series where $1 of every melt sold goes to the charity indicated. This blend immediately sounded good to me and I wish I'd orderd more! The fragrant orange oil comes through and there is an intriguing nip of spice from the pachouli, but it's mellowed by the warm sandalwood and creamy vanilla. If you like exotic, warm, woodsy scents, you'll love this! Fairly strong.

Grandma Shreve's Blueberry Cobbler:

I was glad to see limited stock of the West Virginia sampler scents offered individually. I don't always want every scent in a sampler, but there were several from this one that I did want and was able to snag! This is a realistic, tart, blueberry bakery blend. A little less sweet than an average blueberry muffin type; smells like it could have been made with actual blueberry juice! Fairly strong.

Grandma Shreve's Butterscotch Pie: I'll tell you; this was the West Virginia scent I was most interested in and it's absolutely decadent! I wish I had the real thing to eat. Mouthwatering butterscotch cream and flaky pie crust. Strong.

Crackling Fire: I love this! Crisp, pine, a wisp of smoke, and cold winter air. Smells very similar to other scents of this type that I've loved. Very well done; is not obnoxious to the senses at all. Strong.

Christine (fruit loops & vanilla cupcake): Mmmm... just as I'd hoped it would be. Smells like a fluffy cupcake slathered in vanilla frosting and sprinkled with fruit loops cereal. I love it! Strong.

Free samples:

Rowan (orange chiffon cake & buttercream) This is the that one almost got away. This scent jumped out of my cart before I could finish paying, but the owners were so kind as to include one in my order! I'm glad they did because it's an indulgent blend of creamy orange cake swirled with sweet vanilla buttercream. Heavenly! Strong.

Citrus Sands (golden sands & bergamot):

An intriguing blend. Quite fresh and bright, a touch herbal and orange, kind of like a dish soap. Not really my thing, but pleasant. Moderate.

Overall I'm incredibly happy with my first Thre Scented Squirrel order! I hope these tarts throw well; there is not a single dud in the bunch on cold sniff. I anticipate more great things to come from The Scented Squirrel.

This was a lovely blend on cold sniff; super creamy pineapple with hints of vanilla and coconut. Unfortunately it did not throw extremely well. It had a fairly light throw for about 4 hours and I couldn't really smell it at all after that. Lovely blend but I'm disappointed by the performance. Overall grade: C. Would not purchase.

CFTKR Apple Pizelle:

A nice, rich bakery scent with warm cinnamon glazed apples and buttery pastry. Quite scrumptious but I only received moderate throw from this one for about 6-8 hours. I do wish it had performed slightly better. Overall grade: B. Might purchase.

Beezy Butterscotch Marsmallow: A rich caramel sauce aroma with an added hint of creaminess from the marsmallow. I caught noticeable whiffs of this scent all day but it wasn't quite the beast of a throw I'm used to from Beezy. Still good though. Overall grade: A-. Might repurchase.

Misfit Eclectic Cherry Kiss:

Not familiar with this brand at all; received some scent shots in a destash. This was a typical candy cherry scent, with perhaps a hint of almond. It was pleasant but rather ordinary with a moderate throw for about 6 hours. Overall grade: B. Probably wouldn't purchase.

Handmade Prim Cinnamon & Vanilla:

My favorite melt of the week so far! Not even fully melted yet and it has quite strong throw. I can't attest to the longevity yet, but I'm loving it so far. A wonderful aroma of not too spicy cinnamon and sweet vanilla. Reminds me of horchata with a shot of vanilla extract; yum! Overall grade: A. Would repurchase.

Wilma Watermelon Candy:

Definitely a candy watermelon scent on cold, and when melting becomes a little powdery, like watermelon + sweet tarts. A pleasant aroma, but not my most favorite watermelon scent ever. Throw is moderate so far; I have to be within 5 feet of the warmer to smell it. Overall grade: B. Probably wouldn't purchase.